New Game
by You'llNeverKnow1212
Summary: After an untimely death, Naruto finds himself stuck in a cycle of what appears to be...a video game? Will try to make it different, give it a try.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So, regardless of its lack of originality I have decided to start a video game Naruto story. This is my first story after a tremendously long break, so hopefully I'll keep it going.**

Uzumaki Naruto was pretty sure he should be dead. The last thing he remembered was slipping in his bathtub and slamming his head on the walls on his way down. He had to admit, that was a rather embarrassing way for the hero of Konoha to die. Yeah, at least they wouldn't find his body so there would be no proof he drowned in his bathtub.

With that happy thought, Naruto actually looked around him. Not that it helped at all; he couldn't see anything but a vast expanse of darkness. More importantly, it was going to be so boring to stay in this nothingness for the rest of his life. Or was that the rest of his death. '_Ahh this is so confusing!' _he thought. Naruto tried to take a step forwards but he couldn't move at all.

"What the heck is going on!" he shouted into the darkness. Of course there was no verbal reply, but then Naruto got scared out of his wits when he saw bright white words appear from nowhere and float in front of his face. Not that he would ever admit the girlish scream that erupted from his mouth.

**Restart Game: [YES] [NO] **

'_Is this some sort of joke?' _Naruto knew someone was messing with him. "Hey what game is this?" he shouted out.

Naruto huffed as he was ignored again, that is if there was anyone to ignore him in the first place. '_I don't know what's going on, but I'm not going to restart some random game without knowing what is going on' _Naruto thought. Feeling smug and thinking he was actually being smart for once, Naruto reached for the **[NO]** box. '_Call me stupid now, Sasuke!' _Naruto crowed in his mind. '_I probably just avoided a nasty death or something!'_

Just as these deluded thoughts crossed Naruto's mind, his finger came into contact with the **[NO]** box. Suddenly he found himself extremely disoriented as it felt like someone had stuck a hook in his navel and yanked him up about 20 feet into the air within a fraction of a second. Then he felt his body moving forwards at great speeds, his smug self-satisfaction turning into confusion, and as he looked down, horror. This horror was due to the fact that he was currently suspended over a bubbling pit of lava that seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

"AHHH!" His shrill scream sounded into the empty space all around him. "No, I don't wanna die!" Here Naruto paused for a second before adding, "Again!" Then some more words popped up in front of his face.

Character will be deleted in 12 seconds. Abort operation? **[YES] [NO] **

Naruto wasn't 100% sure what abort meant, but he did know that he didn't feel like being burnt to a looked up to see there were only 5 seconds left. '_Darn it!' _He lunged forwards and hit the **[YES]** box.

Seeing that the lava had disappeared and he was safely on the ground once again, or at least what felt like the ground, Naruto let out a relieved sigh. His respite was interrupted once more by the ghostly white glow of the same prompt he had seen before.

**Restart Game: [YES] [NO] **

It wasn't as if he actually had much of a choice. It was really a no-brainer, either get melted in lava, sit forever in this dreary darkness, or play some unknown game. Sighing, Naruto steeled his nerves and pushed the **[YES]** box. The darkness faded, and so began a new life.

Or at least a new game.

**AN: I know this chapter is short but it's just an introduction. I will be trying to make this somewhat different from other video game Naruto fanfics and won't be copying from other stories. I'm always open to feedback and let me know if I should keep this going. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Nothing much to say, here's the next chapter.**

**Welcome to Uzumaki Naruto: Dungeons of Darkness. Please select character.**

Naruto gulped and tried not to think too much about the connotations of 'Darkness'. He looked at the choices presented for him to select as a character, only to see a lone box, with a picture of him. There seemed to be more out to the side, but the boxes were grayed out and impossible to even scroll to, let alone select.

_'Whatever!' _he thought. _'It's not like I wouldn't want to be my own self! After all I am pretty awesome, right?' _He quickly realized that it seemed more like he was trying to convince himself of the fact than anything else and decided to shut up. Selecting himself, Naruto then hit the resulting **[OK]** that appeared and the scene in front of him seemed to move on to the next screen.

**STAT SHEET**

**These are your base stats. They are what determine your fundamentals and how well you can perform in terms of certain abilities.**

**Strength - 6**

**Speed - 7**

**Intelligence - 2**

**Charisma - 3**

**Luck - 5**

**Stamina - 8**

**Dexterity - 4**

**Overall - 5**

Naruto stared at this stat sheet for a while. He gawked at some of the numbers ("Why do I only have 2 in intelligence? I'm not stupid!"), but was pretty happy overall. "So these are out of 10, huh?" In reply another message popped up.

**These numbers have no max, but generally anything under 10 is considered to be extremely weak.**

At this, Naruto's eyes popped out. "You stupid, worthless game! Don't call me weak!" He fumed silently for a minute. Then the game continued.

**To increase your stats, either train in an activity which fits one or more of the categories or undergo an event in which a skill is used.**

Here, Naruto shrugged. If there was one thing he was good at, it was mindless, repetitive training. _'Yeah, I'll get my strength, stamina, and speed up in no time!' _Of course there was the issue of intelligence and charisma, he definitely didn't like the fact that they were so low. Naruto groaned in anticipation of all the books and stuff he would probably have to read. Forget interrogation, read a scroll for three hours and his mind was obliterated. After reviewing everything, as he wanted to make sure that there were no hidden surprises waiting for him in this weird game, Naruto hit the **[NEXT] **button in the corner.

**SPECIAL SKILLS**

**Swordsmanship - Locked (3 tokens)**

**Necromancy - Locked (Book of the Dead, 12 tokens)**

**Summons - Locked (Contract, 24 tokens)**

_**Hidden**_

With some agitation, Naruto noticed most of the special skills were hidden and only three were shown.

**Tokens Available: 3 **

**More can be earned through quests and achievements, as well as other special tasks.**

Only three tokens?! Well, he didn't have any of the items needed for the other two anyways, so Naruto decided to spend them to unlock swordsmanship. A little unsure of what to do, Naruto tapped the locked icon next to **Swordsmanship.**

**Swordsmanship unlocked! Tokens remaining: 0**

Now Naruto looked up again at his skills and saw the information:

**Swordsmanship (lvl 1) - Basic sword skills, basic sword, strength +1**

Naruto let out a little whoop, not even caring how caught up he was now in this game that he had been so reluctant to play in the first place. _'Well, might as well make the most of it, right?' _he thought. Pressing the **[BACK] **button, he now saw that his strength stat had been updated to 7. "Nice!" he said out loud. Going back to the skills page, Naruto decided to move on ahead and hit **[NEXT] **again.

**Arsenal**

**Book 1 - Basics: **

**~ Clone - Locked (5 points) **

**~ Replacement Technique - Locked (5 points)**

**~ Henge - Locked (5 points)**

**Book 2 - Locked: (Complete Book 1)**

**Hidden...**

Naruto wasn't very impressed with this page. The fact that he didn't even know an Academy jutsu didn't sit very well with him. Also a couple of glaring things stood out to him immediately. _'Noooooo, my Shadow Clone and Rasengan! They're gone!' _They were pretty much the only techniques he new that were worth knowing. Then again, this would finally give him the opportunity to actually learn some more techniques! This perked him back up and he eagerly looked back at the 'screen'.

**Your arsenal is where all of your jutsus and techniques are located. You are awarded points when your character levels up. Each move when unlocked shows how much chakra it takes to use. When chakra is used up, it takes time for it to regenerate.**

**Current Points: 10**

_'Okay, that seemed pretty straightforward' _thought Naruto. He then decided he might as well use the points because he never knew when he might need to use these basic techniques. After all he didn't want to look like a fool in the Academy again.

Here he stopped to think. Would he even be going back to the Academy? This was, after all, a game. What kind of game would it be if everything was exactly the same as real life? And what did the title **'Dungeons of Darkness' **mean? His head started to hurt from all these questions so he decided he would just go with the flow and wing it. Plans were foreign to Naruto, in his opinion that was what Konoha kept the Nara clan around for.

Looking back at **Book 1**, Naruto decided to unlock **Replacement Technique **and **Henge**. He frowned as this would mean that once again he wouldn't be able to make a clone, but after being so used to shadow clones, we didn't feel the regular run-of-the-mill clone would cut it anyways. Plus, **Henge** was great for pranking and **Replacement Technique **was the best to escape the wrath of those he pranked. He grinned, it was a win-win situation!

The screen now showed:

**Arsenal**

**Book 1 - Basics: **

**~ Clone - Locked (5 points) **

**~ Replacement Technique - (5 chakra)**

**~ Henge - (5 chakra)**

**Book 2 - Locked: (Complete Book 1)**

**Hidden...**

**Current Points: 0**

"Hmm... 5 chakra doesn't seem like much. After all, old fuzzball here-" here Naruto patted his stomach, "-always made sure I had enough. Plus my Uzumaki genes helped I guess." After saying this, a thought struck Naruto. Was Kyuubi still sealed in his stomach? He hadn't heard him since he woke up in this darkness, but that wasn't uncommon in itself. Sometimes a week would pass without hearing the blasted fox's voice. Not that he really minded; it wasn't that he hated the demon, just that it was kind of annoying to have another voice in your head. He still hadn't gotten used to it and probably never would.

Somewhat tired of all these points and tokens and whatnot, Naruto went ahead and hit the **[NEXT] **box. He was somewhat relieved when it seemed that he had come to the final page. It read:

**Overview**

**Level 1 - XP: (0/500)**

**Health - 500**

**Health Regeneration - 15 per minute**

**Chakra - 300**

**Chakra Regeneration - 10 per minute**

Naruto grimaced once again at the numbers. He wasn't sure how they compared to other people's stats, but he knew he was going to have to work hard to get his up to where he wanted them to be. He was about to hit **[FINISH] **when a few messages popped up.

**Member of Uzumaki Clan: +30 Chakra, +2 Chakra Regeneration**

**Jinchuuriki: +25 Health Regeneration, +8 Chakra Regeneration, +200 Chakra**

Well that settled the matter of whether or not Naruto still had the Kyuubi. But still, he smiled as he saw his numbers get bumped up, except for **Health**, which was unfortunately still the same. The **Overview** now read:

**Overview**

**Level 1 - XP: (0/500)**

**Health - 500**

**Health Regeneration - 40 per minute**

**Chakra - 530**

**Chakra Regeneration - 20 per minute**

Before he hit the last button to be transported into his new world, Naruto mentally readied himself. He wouldn't be doing everything he had done before and make the same mistakes of being easily manipulated and weak. He knew that he hadn't achieved anything near his full potential, but now he could change that. This game put his life completely in his own hands, he wouldn't be controlled by anyone now.

With regards to morals and such, the dreams that he had in his life and the promises he made - well, this was just a game right. It wasn't in his nature to be completely uncaring, but he also wasn't the nicest person ever. All he knew was that he wasn't going to be held back by foolish sentiments.

This was a clean slate, a new game.

**AN: Whew, that's it for the intro, next chapter should get started on the real stuff. This chapter is a little short, and in my opinion, maybe dry, but is necessary to set up the foundation for the story. I do appreciate the Follows/Favorites but I would also appreciate reviews. Feedback is what helps me improve my writing. **

**Also, I will probably recap the main stats at the end of each chapter in the future, so its easy to see them. ****I will try to update soon but no promises. **

**Until next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Well, I'm back. Thanks to all favorites/follows and special thanks to reviewers. Naruto's character and attitude will not be changed completely, but he will act different than in canon. After all, he has a whole life of experience now.**

As soon as he had hit **[FINISH]**, Naruto saw the game start screen disappear, leaving him alone in the dark for a second or two. Just when he was beginning to get worried that something had gone wrong and he would be stuck in a state of equilibrium for the rest of his life, Naruto felt his body once again get pulled up into the air. However, this time he felt like he was going much further than before, traveling through the dimensions of space and time rather than only 20 feet up in the air.

When he could see again, Naruto noticed that he was lying down on what seemed to be a rather familiar bed in a rather familiar room. Thankfully there was no bubbling lava or imminent doom awaiting him, at least as far as he could see. Sitting up and looking around, Naruto saw he had somehow been transported back to his home in Konoha. Actually, it was more like the dump in which he was currently residing, but it would suffice for now. Eventually, however, Naruto planned on changing that. _'I have plans to change a great many things...' _Naruto thought, rubbing his hands together and chuckling a little.

This train of thought was derailed when Naruto found himself surprised at how authentic his evil laugh sounded. He tried to replicate it a couple of times, failing horribly and apparently annoying his neighbors in the process, if the shout from next door was anything to go by.

"Shut up in there demon brat, before I come in there and make you!" came a booming voice from outside. Naruto's face darkened. It seemed the villagers still hated him here, at least some of them. _'A shame' _he thought. He had quite hoped that would have changed, but thinking on it, it was but a foolish hope.

And foolish hopes were exactly what Naruto had been looking to avoid this time around. He had been forced to endure such treatment from the villagers of Konoha before, he wouldn't allow some game characters to do the same to him. Soon, all voices such as this fool who dared to insult him would be silenced. With this resolve, Naruto hopped off of his bed, which creaked dangerously on its three legs, and walked up to the smudged bathroom mirror. Rubbing off the worst of the marks, he peered at his reflection, gazing at the image of his 12 year old self. _'Wow! I'm back at the starting point 5 years ago.'_

It was kind of weird staring at his past self, but at least this gave him confidence that he still had the chance to attain all the skills he had never bothered to learn. Quickly washing his face (luckily there was running water, but the heat wasn't working), Naruto walked over to his cupboard. He reached a trembling hand out, slowly nearing the handle, before steeling his nerves, closing his eyes, and yanking hard. Unfortunately, the handle was ripped out of the cupboard which remained stubbornly closed. Sighing at the obvious state of disrepair, Naruto spent the next 5 minutes trying to open the cupboard. When he finally succeeded he carefully peeked inside.

The sight inside was so beautiful it brought tears to his eyes. Sniffing a little (darn those allergies!), he touched the items, as if to test whether they were tangible or not. When he found his fingers didn't phase through the packaging, Naruto grabbed the instant ramen and hugged it tight to his chest. "Ramen, oh beautiful ramen!" he cried. "I was so scared I would be stuck forever without you!" Three minutes of agonized waiting and about twenty seconds of bliss later, Naruto was ready to begin with his day. Stepping up to his door, Naruto hesitated for a moment. What was he supposed to do? This Konoha might seem familiar, at least from what he had seen of his house, but he didn't really know the first thing about it.

As if to guide him to an answer to his question, a little _ping _was heard. Looking up to the source of the noise, Naruto saw a red exclamation point floating in the air. His eye twitched - this could get annoying. Floating apparitions that only he could see could be extremely distracting. With his luck, he would probably get distracted in the middle of a critical battle and get stabbed like some rookie genin. Although he supposed that he wasn't even a genin yet, not in this world.

Willing the exclamation point to be selected, a pop up box appeared on the screen.

**Quests **

**Attend the Academy - (25 XP)**

**Kill a monster infesting Konoha - (50 XP, 3 points)**

It seemed that he could take one of these quests to receive the shown rewards, but Naruto was a little confused about the second one. _'Attending the Academy seems pretty normal, but what the heck kind of monsters are in Konoha?' _Naruto shrugged to himself and pushed open the door, albeit warily, but no monster sprung from nowhere to attack him. _'Well' _he thought, _'I might as well go to the Academy and see how things run around here.' _He didn't really have anything better to do, although he wasn't particularly stoked about going back to the prison that was the Academy.

Walking down the road, Naruto took the time to observe his surroundings. As far as he could see, everything looked pretty much the same as he remembered. _'Whew! No surprises.' _he thought, knowing that he should be happy that there was nothing to catch him off guard. Oddly, though, he felt somewhat disappointed, having believed that the game would have more discernible differences. As he entered the Academy, he looked around to see that all his pupils were already present and class was in full swing.

He hadn't looked at the time when he woke up, but he wasn't too bothered by the fact that he was tardy. His track record wasn't exactly squeaky clean when it came to attendance. He tried to sneak into class unnoticed, but the unfortunate fact that Naruto had lost all skills in stealth combined with the only empty chair being in the opposite corner of the room from the Academy door ensured that Iruka saw him slink in almost as soon as he had entered the class.

"Naruto! What are you doing late again?" he barked, his eye twitching. Naruto gave a sheepish laugh and rubbed his head. Here the words of a certain gray hair jounin came to mind but Naruto shoved them out of his head. He refused to be corrupted by Kakashi's lazy ways. Anyways, best not to attract suspicion or unwanted attention to himself. He had decided to keep a low profile from now on until he had enough power and skills to do what he wanted to. He pouted as he realized this meant he would have to lay off the pranks for the moment. Well, major ones at least.

To tell the truth he wasn't even sure what his goals were. What he did know, however, was that he would have to train and do his best to unlock the full potential of what this game was offering. No matter how stupid it was, it was best to capitalize and make the most of the situation that he found himself in.

"Sorry, I guess I slept in, heh heh." It wasn't the best excuse but it would work for now. Plus, it wasn't like Iruka was expecting much more.

"Well go sit down, and try actually paying attention for once," Iruka said, never dropping his glare. _'__Wow, it was like I insulted his grandma or something!' _Naruto thought, baffled. Iruka then completely ignored him and turned back to the class, continuing his lesson on some boring history topic or another. Naruto frowned at his behavior. The Iruka he knew would never act so cold towards him. _'Oh well,'_ Naruto thought, his mind drifting off as he tuned out the boring lecture.

He looked around the class; seeing all his classmates together like this again brought a vivid sense of nostalgia rushing through his mind as he remembered how so many of them had died or left Konoha in the past. Or was that the future? _'Oh, this is so confusing!' _There was Sasuke, still with the revenge driven 'Avenger' look about him, framed by his fangirls Sakura and Ino. Naruto frowned at that sight, he would do his best to steer clear of them. Although his relationship with both Sasuke and Sakura had been rather complicated and not necessarily all bad, he knew that getting involved with them here would be confusing and distracting, only a hindrance to his ambitions. He couldn't have anyone holding him back, whether through their lack of skill or any other way.

He quickly glanced at the other familiar faces like Kiba, Hinata, Shikamaru, Choji, and Shino, but they all seemed to be pretty similar to their real life counterparts from what he could tell, so his interest dwindled quickly. Now he remembered his quest to attend school. He wasn't really sure how to check on it, but he just imagined seeing the quests and there they were.

**Quest: Attend the Academy - completed. 25 XP awarded.**

_'Whoo!' _Naruto gave a mental cheer, while physically fist pumping, drawing a couple of weird looks. Luckily he was sitting in the back corner, so not everyone could see him. That didn't change the fact that it was still pretty embarrassing. Shaking off the few stares, Naruto checked his total **XP**.

**Level 1 - XP: (25/500)**

It was a little disappointing that he still had so much more to go before he could go to the next level, even though he wasn't sure exactly what he would get for leveling up. However, it was still something and his good mood couldn't be broken right now. He heard another _ping _go off. From the looks of it nobody else had heard it as they kept staring straight ahead or looking wherever they were previously.

With a little sigh, Naruto released a little breath he didn't even know he was holding. He really didn't want any unnecessary attention from anyone, especially his fellow pupils. Checking the screen again, he found a new quest.

**Quests**

**Kill a monster infecting Konoha - (50 XP, 3 points)**

**Graduate from the Academy - (500 XP, 5 tokens)**

_**Bonus: Pass ranked in the top 5 of the class - (150 XP, 5 points)**_

_'Interesting' _Naruto thought. _'So there are bonus rewards too.' _However, he didn't know if he would be able to pass in the top 5. He was dead last the last time he graduated. Looking up towards the front of the class, Naruto saw Mizuki sitting down at Iruka's desk. His eyes narrowed; he must have missed him as he walked in the class due to Iruka's little speech. He wondered how he would graduate now. Without enough points to learn to make a clone, he was in the same predicament he had found himself in before.

All he knew was that he wouldn't let Mizuki use him again. But then again, who knows what benefits the Scroll of Sealing might give him if he could get his hands on it? Naruto was pondering this important question when he heard something in Iruka's lecture that caught his attention.

"Now kids, who can tell me about why we should always stay within the boundaries of the forest?" Iruka looked about the class for a volunteer.

Sakura raised her hand and was picked. "Well Sensei, I heard there are all sorts of dangers beyond the edge of the boundary, but I'm not sure exactly what..." she trailed off, a little unsure of herself. Iruka, however, smiled at her and nodded.

"That's partly it, Sakura. Here, in Konoha, we are protected from the barriers erected by our First Hokage, but outside of this protection there are many dangers to be faced." Here he paused to ensure he had everyone's attention. Naruto almost groaned, of course he would stop in the middle of the only interesting information he had given all day. He was growing quite annoyed with this Iruka, who didn't seem at all like the teacher he knew and loved. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Iruka continued. "There is of course the obvious threat of enemy shinobi. But in addition, there are many forms of abominations and monsters which have infested the land. In fact, they have even currently infested a section of Konoha's forest near a few training grounds."

This last statement brought many gasps of shock through the astounded audience, not from the fact that there were monsters, which most of the kids already knew, but from the fact that they could actually get within the walls of Konoha. Seeing this, Iruka stepped in to do what he felt was his duty as a teacher.

In what was obviously supposed to be a reassuring tone, he said, "Don't worry kids. The area has already been sectioned off and will hopefully be dealt with soon. We are just currently waiting on some ANBU to get back from their mission so they can take the beast out." The children visibly relaxed at these words, but Naruto kept on listening, wanting to hear more. This must have been what the quest to kill a monster must have meant. But if the ANBU were needed to kill them, how could he possibly take one out?

Suddenly, Naruto had a realization. The game must be trying to kill him! He fumed silently, mentally shaking a fist at the quest. He would show it! First he would train, then he would go and eliminate the pests.

Iruka added, "Just stay away from training grounds 37 through 40 and you'll be fine." Naruto smiled and tuned the rest of his speech out. He had all the information that he would need.

A couple of hours later, Naruto found himself at an abandoned training ground, training ground 12. He decided this was where he was going to do his training for the day. Luckily, class was dismissed early due to graduation day being tomorrow, so he had a few hours before it got dark.

Sorely missing his Shadow Clone technique, which would have helped increase his training (re-training?) rate exponentially, Naruto got to work. He double checked his base stats and checked the three lowest, **intelligence**, **charisma**, and **dexterity**. The first two weren't really physical traits, so he decided to work on dexterity first. He grabbed the weapons he had brought, about two dozen kunai and a dozen shuriken that he had swiped from a store on the way here. With no money, he would have to resort to small theft like this to get by, at least until securing some source of income.

With determination in his eyes, Naruto began his regular drills of throwing kunai and shuriken at the trees around him. His throws felt rather clumsy and his aim, not very precise to begin with, was horrid. Only two of the projectiles hit the mark by the time he had thrown them all. Closing his eyes and willing himself not to be discouraged, he ran forwards to gather them back up and start over.

Two hours later, Naruto decided that was enough target practice for the day. Looking up at the sky, he saw the sun had almost completely set, and so he headed back to his home. Checking his base stats, he saw that **dexterity** had increased by 2 to a grand total of 6, as well as **stamina** by 1 to a total of 9. Satisfied with the results of his hard labor, Naruto smiled as he entered his house. He had grabbed an apple and some water from one of the stalls near his home, so he didn't have to worry about food.

Now he turned to the work that he so detested - reading. Determined to raise his abysmal intelligence score of 2, he had actually visited the Academy library for the first time in either of his lives. Unfurling the scrolls he had brought, he scanned through them, already feeling a headache coming on. Within forty minutes, he could take no more and tossed them away. Checking on his stats, **intelligence** had only gone up to 3. Too tired to complain, Naruto showered and went to bed. Now he had to worry about graduation and what would come after it in his genin team. To tell the truth, he had no idea whether he even wanted to be in a team this time around. Issues in team dynamics had been what had been keeping each member from their full potential, and eventually had taken over his entire life in his mission to retrieve Sasuke.

Although he felt slightly like he was abandoning his friends by leaving them to their problems, Naruto forced himself to remember that these weren't his friends, as Iruka had shown. They were just game characters, and he would do best to stay away from them. Acting alone would give him more freedom to do what he wanted.

And speaking of what he wanted - Naruto had just figured it out. There was nobody holding him to this village here, no one with whom he had a personal connection. The monster beyond the boundaries led him to believe that there were many other surprises waiting beyond, possibly holding the key to the power he was looking for. Hearing the now familiar _ping,_ Naruto already knew what quest had just popped up. His last life had totally revolved around Konoha, but now there would be change. The promise of a greater future awaited.

**Strength - 7**

**Speed - 7**

**Intelligence - 3**

**Charisma - 3**

**Luck - 5**

**Stamina - 9**

**Dexterity - 6**

**Overall - 5.7**

**SPECIAL SKILLS**

**Swordsmanship (lvl 1) - Basic sword skills, basic sword, strength +1**

**Necromancy - Locked (Book of the Dead, 12 tokens)**

**Summons - Locked (Contract, 24 tokens)**

_**Hidden**_

**Arsenal**

**Book 1 - Basics:**

**~ Clone - Locked (5 points)**

**~ Replacement Technique - (5 chakra)**

**~ Henge - (5 chakra)**

**Book 2 - Locked: (Complete Book 1)**

**Hidden...**

**Current Points: 0**

**Overview**

**Level 1 - XP: (25/500)**

**Health - 500**

**Health Regeneration - 40 per minute**

**Chakra - 530**

**Chakra Regeneration - 20 per minute**

**AN: I will try to make future chapters longer and will do my best to get another one out by the end of next week, hopefully with lots of action. After that updates will be slower due to life, school, AP exams, finals, etc. **


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: So this update is a little later than the previous ones. Why? Because unfortunately spring break is nearing to an end and life is picking back up, nothing I can do about it. Now, normally I don't like to answer questions from reviewers in the AN (so please don't feel offended if I don't), instead liking to just explain the answer through the story itself. **

**However, I will answer Kumoatsu: I fixed the typo, calm down.**

**Also, I will be making up some techniques along the way. Most are going to be in English, unless some sound better in Japanese, but any in Japanese will not be made up (because I don't know Japanese). Now that that's out of the way, on with the story!**

Naruto woke up in the morning, completely refreshed and feeling none of the initial sleepiness that was almost always associated with getting up early enough to get to the Academy on time. _'Well, there's one thing I don't miss about life. Probably just a game thing.'_ Naruto mused. He got ready for the day quickly, determined to get to the Academy with a little time to spare so he could think about what he would do next. One thing he knew for sure, though. His future lay outside the limits of Konoha. Now all he had to do was find a way to avoid being stuck on a genin team while still being allowed to leave for some reason or another. His first thought had been to fail the Academy test on purpose, which wouldn't be to difficult for him he had to admit. Thinking about it, however, if he failed this year, the Sandaime might not allow him to leave as a civilian. Sure other civilians went out all the time for business purposes and such, or even to visit other villages, but as a jinchuuriki, Naruto was far too important to allow to fall into the wrong hands. Danzo, at the very least, would make sure of that.

Breaking out of this train of thought, Naruto looked at the clock to see that he had about half an hour left before he had to leave if he wanted to arrive to the take his test on time. Instead of leaving early however, he pulled up his stat sheet. Thirty minutes should be enough time to get some quality training in; Naruto wanted to be ready for whatever he might face outside the village. At his current status, Naruto definitely wouldn't be able to handle even an experienced genin very well due to his abysmal skills, regardless of the experience from his lifetime.

Though still dissatisfied with his abysmal ranking of **3 **in **intelligence**, Naruto decided against breaking out the scrolls. He'd rather avoid inducing such a strong headache that he would be unable to concentrate at all during the Academy graduation exam. Instead he dropped to the ground and started doing what he did best - repetitive yet mindless exercise. Dropping to the floor, he began doing his pushups absentmindedly. True, his body had reverted to its rather pitiful 12 year old state, causing the pushups to take considerably more effort than they should have, but he would still be able to continue for quite a while. As he stood up and began his squat routine, he gave some more thought as to what he should train himself in. Grunting in exertion as he hit only squat number 25, Naruto briefly frowned at the burning pain already accumulating in his thighs before forcing himself to banish the thought of fatigue from his mind.

Calling up **Special Skills**, Naruto re read his only unlocked skill,

**Swordsmanship (lvl 1) - Basic sword skills, basic sword, strength +1**

_'Hmm' _he thought, contemplating how to try to level up the skill, which would undoubtedly come in handy in the future. _'What if I leveled up and became a master? That would be so cool, I would be able to smack Kisame and Orochimaru down!'_ There was no XP shown for the skill though, which would have been very useful as an indication to how long it would take. _'Man, this game could at least try to be more helpful.'_ Finishing up his set of sit ups, Naruto ran to take a cold shower, checking his clock to see he was running sightly late despite his best efforts.

Drying himself off with a towel, Naruto quickly checked up on his **Base Stats**.

Scanning through to find **Strength**, he saw it was still at a meager **7**. Groaning at the fact that all this work hadn't even given him another point, Naruto walked towards the Academy with a scowl on his face. Well, given that **Strength** was tied for his second highest stat, it would probably take a little longer to bump it up.

Arriving at the Academy, Naruto found he was on time, with almost half of the seats still empty in the classroom. Ignoring everyone, Naruto just walked silently back to the corner seat he had taken the previous day. This earned some curious stares from some of the others seated in class, but Naruto knew there wasn't much of a point getting attached to people seeing as he planned to leave Konoha soon anyways. Keeping his head facing down towards his desk, so nobody would notice him staring, he shifted his eyes up discreetly towards Iruka, and more importantly, Mizuki at the front of the class. Although he wanted to make sure to pass the exam, Naruto still didn't want to miss out on getting a hold of the forbidden Scroll of Sealing; after all, it would be interesting to observe how the game processed learning techniques from scrolls.

Iruka's voice rising above the ever present idle chit-chat of the assembled students named the first student to be tested, barking out, "Aburame Shino!" With this exclamation, Iruka and Mizuki both rose from the front of the class and exited the door followed by the stoic as always bug boy. At this opportune moment, his conscience decided to push to the front of his mind a thought which had been nagging at his brain for quite some time now - he still didn't know how to make a clone. Panicking, Naruto thought back to when he was alive, in the real world that is. Even after he had mastered the **Shadow Clone **jutsu, he still couldn't do the normal **Clone **jutsu right; he just never had the chakra control needed for it. Well, there wasn't really anything he could do now, especially as he checked his techniques page, which still read:

**Arsenal**

**Book 1 - Basics:**

**~ Clone - Locked (5 points)**

**~ Replacement Technique - (5 chakra)**

**~ Henge - (5 chakra)**

**Book 2 - Locked: (Complete Book 1)**

**Hidden...**

**Current Points: 0**

As Naruto's eyes zoomed towards the bottom, but no miracle had occurred to give him free points to unlock the **Clone **jutsu. He hadn't been able to complete any **Quests **either to gain points, so he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Sighing, Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose as he had seen the Sandaime do so many times. When he realized this, he immediately moved his hand away, smacking it into the desk hard and busting his knuckle. As he cradled his burning hand, eyes watering and ignoring other students stares after the loud sounds of contact between flesh and wood had just taken place, Naruto resolved to stay away from acting like old geezers on their deathbed. He had loved the old man, but picking up his habits was another thing altogether.

With no other options, Naruto decided that his best shot would be to try to remember how to do the **Shadow Clone **jutsu and hope the proctors wouldn't find out. Well, he reasoned, they couldn't find out if he dispelled the jutsu first, but he had a sinking premonition that without the **Shadow Clone **jutsu in his **Arsenal**, there would be no way for him to perform the technique. Just then, a little of the old Uzumaki Naruto decided to shine through. Narrowing his eyes, he mentally banished the thought from his mind, thinking _'I already did so much that people considered impossible, I mastered the Rasengan quicker than Jiraiya could have ever believed, I gained acceptance of my friends even though I held the Kyuubi... I won't let this stupid game decide my life for me!' _And with this strengthened resolve, the jinchuuriki looked up to see that his little pep talk was over just in time for Iruka to call out his name.

Looking as if he smelled something funny, an expression that seemed foreign on Iruka's face, he said, "Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto got up and followed him. As he passed Mizuki, he saw a flash of intense hatred in the assistant teacher's eyes before it was masked with the false smile he remembered so vividly from last time. It seemed that some people hadn't changed in the slightest.

* * *

_An hour later..._

* * *

"Stupid **Shadow Clones**, they used to feel so easy." Naruto grumbled under his breath, swinging alone on the swing set and feeling pretty bad in general as he stared at all the other students. Of course they had all passed, leaving only him behind. He knew that he had more potential than most of them if not all. '_Man, if I were the Hokage, I would definitely bring about a reform in the shinobi education system, that's for sure.'_ Then he looked at the position of the sun, seeing that it was roughly about the time that Mizuki had approached him last time. His plans relied on Mizuki arriving and offering him the same fake deal as last time; after all, it would be a great way to get some new techniques and become a shinobi. Then again, Iruka didn't really like him now, so he would probably have to try his luck with the Hokage.

Hearing the rustling of leaves beneath feet, Naruto spun to see the very chunin he wanted to see, ironic as it was. There stood Mizuki, wearing his fake smile again, yet to Naruto's now trained eyes, it was easy to see the deep hatred harbored by the man towards him. Deciding to act how Mizuki would expect, Naruto pretended to act surprised at seeing him. Listening to his assistant teacher's little speech about how Iruka really cared for him, during which he tried not to barf, the genin hopeful was almost relieved when the man before him made his little proposition. "Don't worry about it, though. You can still be a genin Naruto." This statement was punctuated by what the man obviously thought was a genial flourish of the hands and a kindly smile.

Forcing himself not to burst into laughter, which would no doubt lead to a great many problems, Naruto replied, "Really sensei? What do I have to do?" Here Mizuki's lips formed a little smirk, believing that everything was going according to plan. Too bad nobody had ever taught him that in a ninja's life, nothing ever goes to plan. Then Mizuki explained to him the same things he had told him last time - steal the Scroll of Sealing and then meet him in the forest to get his headband. After delivering the instructions, he promptly used a **S****unshin** and disappeared, probably trying to get away from the criminal just in case he got caught.

After his departure, Naruto heard a _ping. _Opening to the appropriate page, Naruto decided to check the new notification.

**Quests**

**Kill a monster infecting Konoha - (50 XP, 3 points)**

**Graduate from the Academy - (500 XP, 5 tokens)**

**Steal the Scroll of Sealing - (275 XP, 5 points)**

_**Bonus: Manage to attain at least one technique from the scroll - (200 XP, 8 tokens)**_

The first thing Naruto noticed was that the quest to graduate was still available, although the bonus to graduate in the top 5 in the class was gone. Well, that made sense, it wasn't really possible for him to graduate ranked high. Next, looking at the rewards for getting the scroll, he smiled. With those 5 points, he could finally learn the **Clone **technique and finish **Book 1**. Then he would be able to learn more advanced techniques from **Book 2**, which would be automatically unlocked. About time to, he was getting tired of being stuck at this level.

Grumbling at the fact that he hadn't even seen the **S****unshin **yet in the game, let alone unlock it, meaning that he would just have to walk everywhere until he did so, Naruto slowly trudged towards the Hokage Tower, where he recalled the scroll being last time. At least it would be no trouble finding the scroll. However, Naruto needed to formulate some sort of plan because things almost certainly wouldn't play out the same way as before. For one, Iruka wouldn't come running after him, something he had done only because he saw his favorite student in danger. Chuckling darkly to himself, Naruto had to admit that he was probably one of the scarred chunin's least favorite students now, something that he still wasn't used to. The scowl seemed so foreign on the face he remembered fondly as always having a radiant smile, and he had to keep telling himself this was just a game, the real Iruka still loved him.

Looking up after breaking out of his musings, Naruto saw he was about halfway to his destination. Forcing himself to stop his thoughts from going off on a tangent (which he seemed to be doing a lot of recently, even more so than usual) when trying to do some serious thinking, he focused back on the matter at hand. After a bit of thinking, the only thing that blond haired ninja could come up with was to stay away from the rendezvous point back at the forest. He didn't want to have to face Mizuki alone, especially in his still weak game character, especially since he hadn't even heard the Kyuubi talk yet, or felt it's power. Of course he knew he still contained the bijuu from the bonuses he had gotten from being a jinchuuriki, but he didn't want to have to rely on an untested power for survival against Mizuki.

Speaking of differences between the game and real life, the boy also wondered if his relationship with the Sandaime Hokage was different here too. He hadn't seen him yet, but that was normal because this was only his second day in this Konoha. Naruto stopped his walking, dispelling the** Henge** he had almost subconsciously cast to change his features slightly in order to escape the heckling and insults that inevitably came along with him walking through the streets of Konoha. He now stood in front of the Hokage Tower and stared up at the window of the building through which he would have to make his entrance to gain access to the scroll in the Hokage's office. Well, there was no point in waiting.

* * *

_Approximately 10 minutes later..._

* * *

Well, that had seemed almost too easy. Instead of confronting the Hokage, he had just jumped onto the windowsill and henged himself as part of the wall. Of course, the old man wasn't Hokage for nothing, and would probably have noticed him, but he seemed to be taking a nap while using his stack of paperwork as a pillow. Pausing every time the monkey-like man snored, Naruto took small steps towards the bookshelf where he remembered the scroll being. Sure enough, there it was, between some old, dusty books which were probably sandwiching the thin scroll in order to conceal it. Grabbing his prize, Naruto felt a feeling of elation as he turned and jumped out of the window, still clutching the scroll. As such, he failed to see the Sandaime's eyes snap open behind him, both a little amused and somewhat severe.

Idly checking his chakra level, Naruto saw it had already regenerated to 530 again after using the Henge twice that day. It seemed the low chakra cost of 5 would hardly make a dent in his rather large chakra reserves. Hopefully they would increase substantially, though, as he imagined that more advanced techniques would be exponentially more taxing, including the **Shadow Clone **technique, which was notorious for its need of huge amounts of chakra. Instead of going to the forest, Naruto now turned towards his house. Mizuki wouldn't be expecting to see him for at least another couple of hours, which should be enough time to take a look at the scrolls contents.

Entering his house, Naruto took the Scroll of Sealing out of his pocket where he had been storing it. He decided to check his quest now.

**Quest: Steal the Scroll of Sealing - completed.**

_**Bonus: Manage to attain at least one technique from the scroll - (200 XP, 8 tokens)**_

It seemed that he would have to wait until he either completed or missed his bonus before receiving his award. Turning his attention back to the scroll, Naruto picked it up and peered at the contents. It looked like a blank sheet of paper. Slightly confused, he slowly realized as words appeared in the air instead of the scroll.

**Scroll of Sealing: Open? [YES] [NO]**

Quickly hitting **[YES]**, Naruto waited for the next pop up.

**Scroll of Sealing**

**_Contents:_**

**~ Shadow Clone - Add to Arsenal? [YES] [NO]**

**Hidden...**

Feeling only slight disappointment at only the **Shadow Clone **being available, Naruto just hit **[YES] **once more.

**Shadow Clone added to Arsenal.**

**Scroll of Sealing**

**_Contents:_**

**Hidden...**

Naruto exited the Scroll of Sealing, which didn't have anything else he could use anyways, and took a look at his **Arsenal**.

**Arsenal**

**Book 1 - Basics:**

**~ Clone - Locked (5 points)**

**~ Replacement Technique - (5 chakra)**

**~ Henge - (5 chakra)**

**Book 2 - Locked: (Complete Book 1)**

**Hidden...**

**Other Techniques:**

**~Shadow Clone - Locked (10 points - free with unlocking of Clone)**

**Current Points: 0**

Frowning at still having zero points, Naruto went out of **Arsenal **and back to look at the status of his quests.

**Quest: Steal the Scroll of Sealing - completed. 275 XP and 5 points awarded.**

_**Bonus: Manage to attain at least one technique from the scroll - completed. 200 XP and 8 tokens awarded.**_

Now Naruto had enough points to unlock **Clone**, and luckily **Shadow Clone **by extension. Just to double check, he took a look at his points.

**Current Points: 5**

He would have hated to wait until he accumulated 10 more points just to get a useful technique beyond those of **Book 1**. Pouring his points into unlocking **Clone**, he took a look at his updated **Arsenal.**

**Arsenal**

**Book 1 - Basics:**

**~ Clone - (5 chakra)**

**~ Replacement Technique - (5 chakra)**

**~ Henge - (5 chakra)**

**Book 2 - Genin Standard:**

**~ Shunsin - Locked (7 points)**

**~ Flame Fist - Locked (9 points)**

**~ Earth Barrier - Locked (10 points)**

**~ Wind Slash - Locked (8 points)**

**~ Water Bullet - Locked (9 points)**

**~ Electric Arc - Locked (10 points)**

**Book 3 - Locked: (Complete Book 2)**

**Other Techniques:**

**~Shadow Clone - (30 chakra)**

**Current Points: 0**

Naruto raised his eyebrows at all the new information on the page. **Book 2 **was a lot larger than **Book 1**, and would probably take a lot longer to get enough points since everything cost more. It seemed that the points depended on his affinities for elements and how easily he would learn each technique; wind came much easier to him than earth, that was for sure. Also, he expected the **Shadow Clone **to cost a lot of chakra, sure, but 30 seemed like so much compared to his max of 530. He would definitely have to use that jutsu carefully until he had more max chakra.

Lastly he checked to see how far his XP had brought him as he just made quite a lot.

**Overview**

_**Level Up! **_

**Level 2- XP: (0/600)**

_**Stats Increased: Health +30, Health Regeneration +4, Chakra +20, Chakra Regeneration +2**_

**Health - 530**

**Health Regeneration - 44 per minute**

**Chakra - 550**

**Chakra Regeneration - 22 per minute**

Finally all his hard work had paid off! Naruto felt a new enthusiasm bubble up within him. This wasn't some impossible task, he could actually complete quests and get stronger. It didn't seem like much, but the stat increases were actually pretty high percentage-wise. Celebration time was cut short however, with the entrance of a member of the very people he really didn't want to see right now.

He quickly dispelled the image in front of him and turned to face his doorway as he felt someone sunshin into his house, most probably a skilled person judging by how silently and quickly they appeared. Looking at the intruder and the mask they wore on their face, Naruto saw that it was an ANBU. Not good considering that he just stoll a top secret scroll from the Hokage's office just twenty minutes ago. Nevertheless, Naruto put on a face of innocence, trying to keep the ANBU distracted as he 'discreetly' pushed the Scroll of Sealing to the other side of the table he was sitting at.

Unfortunately for him the ANBU took a few steps forwards, and snatched up the scroll, then grabbing his arm with an iron grip just before he could make his break for the still open door. He looked up at the masked face, he couldn't even tell what animal the mask was supposed to be of. As happened so often, Naruto failed to keep his big mouth shut, stating, "Why do you have a snail mask? Or is that like an alien with those tentacles?"

Although he couldn't see beyond the white barrier, Naruto could've sworn he could see the glare the ANBU member directed at him. Speaking in a practiced monotone, but with a little bit of annoyance underneath, they said, "Uzumaki Naruto, your presence is requested by the Hokage." Naruto's face fell and his shoulder slumped forward in defeat. He was careless, and now he was going to get what was coming to him.

* * *

**Strength - 7**

**Speed - 7**

**Intelligence - 3**

**Charisma - 3**

**Luck - 5**

**Stamina - 9**

**Dexterity - 6**

**Overall - 5.7**

**SPECIAL SKILLS**

**Swordsmanship (lvl 1) - Basic sword skills, basic sword, strength +1**

**Necromancy - Locked (Book of the Dead, 12 tokens)**

**Summons - Locked (Contract, 24 tokens)**

_**Hidden**_

**Tokens Available: 8**

**Arsenal**

**Book 1 - Basics:**

**~ Clone - (5 chakra)**

**~ Replacement Technique - (5 chakra)**

**~ Henge - (5 chakra)**

**Book 2 - Genin Standard:**

**~ Shunsin - Locked (7 points)**

**~ Flame Fist - Locked (9 points)**

**~ Earth Barrier - Locked (10 points)**

**~ Wind Slash - Locked (8 points)**

**~ Water Bullet - Locked (9 points)**

**~ Electric Arc - Locked (10 points)**

**Book 3 - Locked: (Complete Book 2)**

**Other Techniques:**

**~Shadow Clone - (30 chakra)**

**Current Points: 0**

**Overview**

**Level 2 - XP: (0/600)**

**Health - 530**

**Health Regeneration - 44 per minute**

**Chakra - 550**

**Chakra Regeneration - 22 per minute**

* * *

**AN: And that's it for this chapter. Things are really going to start to pick up from now on. Unfortunately, my spring break has now officially come to an end, so updates from now on are going to be much more sporadic. As always, I like hearing feedback, so tell me if you liked it, hated it, or just didn't care (I don't know why you would be reading if you don't care, but that's besides the point).**


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